When I think of Jack Lemmon I am reminded of – in no particular order – “The Apartment,” “The Days of Wine and Roses,” “Front Page”, “Good Neighbor Sam” and “The Great Race.” The list could go on, but in the name of brevity, I’ll stop there. The second coming of Buster Keaton.

I had the pleasure of seeing “The Apartment” on the big screen at the American Cinemateque. Jack Lemmon was there, as was th woman who played F. MacMurray’s secretary. This was a few months before he died. Mr. Lemmon was a class act and very generous with his time. Despite his politics,here was a man who knew how to conduct himself in public but not making turrets style political jabs. They definitely don’t make ‘em like that anymore.

Even Lemmon can be victimized by poor project choice. His problem in Branagh’s Hamlet may have been Branagh. Who was it decided the guy would be this generation’s interpreter of Shakespeare? Maybe we’re now due for a CGI update. Michael Bay’s Hamlet, with Jack Black.

RE the 25 lbs of fat gal, though I’m not in line with fiftyfoot, I’m glad to see confirmation of the suspicion that there were such folks out there. And she lost it in more than 25, and in more than one place, I can tell you that.

Amazing movie–it’s hard to say who is better Bancroft or Lemmon–together, they were brilliant! My favorite part is where he decides to assert himself and chase down a would-be mugger, played by a young, Sylvester Stallone (”Oh, God, I mugged a kid!”)

I almost never liked Jack Lemmon. Heresy, I know, but there you are.

One of the very few movies in which I thought he gave a splendid performance was “Glengarry Glen Ross,” in which he played down-on-his-luck real estate salesman Shedon “The Machine” Levine. For much of that movie, he got to be the typical, comical, hapless schmuck that he seemed to specialize in playing. During that portion of the movie, he’s so convincing as a sad sack that you find yourself rooting for him to make a big sale (even though you KNOW he’d be pawning worthless land off on gullible customers.

But it’s his scenes late in the movie, just after Levine THINKS he’s made a big sale, that make Lemmon’s performance so brilliant. Levine has been such a pitiable loser for so long that, when he THINKS he’s finally succeeded, he shows what a miserable, smug, S.O.B. he must have been in his prime. And we see exactly why the vindictive office manager (Kevin Spacey) loathed Levine so much.

The Prisoner of Second Avenue has some fun cameos with Sylvester Stallone and F. Murray Abraham. Enjoyed their brief spots.

I saw the The Apartment when it first came out. My mother had the presence of mind to treat my brother and me as capable of seeing adult movies while still relatively young. Everything about the movie is "right". Even the theme music was so good I hear it in my mind as I type this.